What is this curious leather contraption?

Today’s world would stare and wonder at this curious leather contraption! And the question would be, “What is that and what could it ever be used for?” 

The answer delves into the thinnest of metal blades, the straight razor and how vigorously rubbing it back and forth on this strange leather strap could reshape the cutting edge on this metal blade until it was super sharp, allowing for a close shave. A fact that is important to anyone that has placed blade to whisker. 

Crude versions of the straight razor, sometimes called the “cut-throat razor was developed as far back as the 1500s and since they must be very sharp to do their job, it stands to reason that the “razor strop” came along soon afterward. Barbers were quite adept in the use of razor strop so their customers could receive a shave with a modicum of comfort. 

My introduction to the “Razor Strop” came at an early age and at a most unfortunate moment that caught me with my hand in the proverbial cookie jar. No, I was not pilfering cookies, but I was being disobedient at the time. 

My Dad, who became Pappy to grandkids, had brought to my attention that I was guilty of this deed. Now this man was a very strict disciplinarian and I had brought his focused attention to my error. He could snatch his belt off so fast that the sound of the belt end slapping the belt loops was similar to the sounds made by the firing of a machine gun. There was no doubt to anyone within hearing distance that a fitting punishment was likely to occur. 

During one such episode, he stood me before him and with his eyes boring holes completely through my soul, assured me that this was going to hurt him more than it would hurt me. 

One of my early characteristic traits was the foolhardy attempt to talk back, so I apparently remarked that if what he was saying bore even an ounce of truth he would immediately reconsider his proposed action and go on about his business of doing what ever it took to put food on the table and to put his belt back in the loops before his pants slithered to the ground which would effectively trip him and throw him to the ground quicker than a hog-tied calf met that identical fate! 

Well, maybe I did not say that exactly, but I must have responded in some manner that caused him to reconsider an immediate action, because he instructed me to go to the closet and bring him Granddad’s razor strop. With anxiety through the roof and filled with dread, fear, and foreboding, I fetched that tool that Granddad used to keep his straight razor sharp because he was a stickler for neat and close shaves during his adult life. 

After his death, it was given to my Dad and he kept it handy hanging there in that closet.  I knew it would make a fearsome disciplinary tool and I knew that there would be no shaving done at this time. Dad took the razor strop from me and told me to have a seat. He then began to tell a story from his childhood, how this razor strop was used by his Mother to discipline him and his two sisters and he stressed how wicked it was and how painful its licks were. And then he related how their house was in a state of remodeling as a ceiling was being installed. And he talked about how his two older sisters had helped him get into that attic space, how they had given him that razor strop and instructed him to put it as far back as he could reach to make sure it was never used as a disciplinary tool ever again! 

Now, even though the ceiling was almost completed, Granddad still had a need to strop his razor and could not find the razor strop to complete that job. But he eventually coerced my Dad into fessing up to the location of said strop, telling him to retrieve it, and letting him know that it would not be used for discipline again.  Of course, that did not solve their problem, because his Mother continued to be a strict disciplinarian. 

Then Dad said that he hoped I had learned my lesson and I assured him that I most certainly had. He asked me to replace the razor strop back in the closet and to light a shuck before he changed his mind. With visions of the razor strop in my mind and still hearing the wicked pops of the belt coming out of those belt loops, you better believe that I instantly made myself scarce! 

Oh, by the way, you may wonder about the destiny of that razor strop…it burned in a house fire that following summer and its memory faded into oblivion!

 

Razor Strop Logic

It was break o’ day on the Quarter Circle C,

Coffee made an’ the day begun,

Yet Granddad’s first chore was to shave you see,

This before ought else was done.

 

He put a quick twist on that shaving brush,

 nestled there in its mug,

 it was Sunday mornin’ an’ he was in a rush,

he gave that razor a tug.

 

The razor’s pull let him know, stroppin’ was due,

He reached for that ol’ razor strop,

A lick or two an’ that razor edge was good as new,

Then laid it on the tabletop.

 

When he finished, he’d ride east to the rock,

Where he could visit with his Lord,

Just to say thanks for the spring grass and the stock,

An’ cowboy work that warn’t so hard.

 

He’d ask for grace an’ to guide him along the trail,

For God’s blessin’ of folks needs,

to give him courage when it seemed he might fail,

forgive him for his misdeeds.

 

Prayin’ for family an’ friends, for health, an’ good times,

Give thanks for a good calf crop,

An’ for fair weather along with warmer climes,

Even for that ol’ razor strop.

 

Yes, day after day, this was how his day would start,

Coffee, strop his razor an’ shave,

Then ride to the rock to pray ‘bout things on his heart,

Pardon for his sins, God gave.

 

An’ tho today, the razor strop’s use is past,

Each one should look for God’s way,

This world is complicated an’ movin’ fast,

The Lord will guide you thru the day!.

 

Pray for our Nation. 

God Bless each of you and God Bless America! 

 

 

The Rosebud News

251 Live Oak St
Marlin, TX 76661
Phone: (254) 883-2554
Fax:(254) 883-6553